Ministers questioned in bank scandal

JAKARTA (JP): With the approval of President B.J. Habibie, the police questioned three Cabinet members as witnesses in the Bank Bali scandal, Minister/State Secretary Muladi said on Friday.

Muladi identified those questioned as Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto, State Minister of the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng and Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin.

"Some ministers were summoned by the police after the President gave his approval," Muladi said after attending a meeting between Habibie, five other ministers, Attorney General Ismudjoko and National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi.

Muladi said the President called the Thursday meeting as part of his preparations for his Oct. 14 accountability speech to the People's Consultative Assembly.

During the meeting, the President spent much of his time quizzing Ismudjoko and Roesmanhadi about the latest developments in several high-profile cases, including the Bank Bali scandal and the investigation into the alleged corruption by his predecessor Soeharto, according to Muladi.

"I think the Bank Bali case is in the pipeline; the enforcement of the law has been clear. About Pak Harto, we are just waiting the announcement from the attorney general," Muladi said after the meeting at Merdeka Palace.

Muladi urged people not to amplify the bank scandal and the investigation of Soeharto, while ignoring the extraordinary achievements of Habibie and his Cabinet.

He said Habibie was making serious efforts to resolve the bank scandal, which allegedly involves several Cabinet members, a number of close associates and his brother.

"The (success stories) must be emphasized; you should not merely focus on Bank Bali," Muladi said, appearing somewhat irritated by questions about the scandal.

The minister intimated that the government would not bow to pressure from the International Monetary Fund to fully disclose the results of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) audit of the transactions relating to the scandal, on the grounds that such a disclosure would violate the country's banking secrecy law.

He did acknowledge the audit tracked the flows of funds in the scandal to several influential figures and a certain organization.

However, he quickly added, somewhat confusingly: "I myself, as well as the President, have not read the report."

The IMF has stopped the disbursement of aid to Indonesia until the government satisfactorily resolves the bank scandal.

Habibie has gone back on his promise to the IMF to disclose the complete PwC audit report, which reportedly contains the flow of funds to the personal bank accounts of influential people close to the President.

Muladi, however, indicated the government would likely offer some concessions to the IMF. "We are still considering how much (can be disclosed); whether it will be (disclosed) selectively," the minister said.

Roesmanhadi and National Police chief of detectives Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told the President the police had given the Attorney General's Office the dossiers of five suspects in the Bank Bali scandal, including Rudy Ramli, the former owner of the bank, and businessman Djoko S. Tjandra.

"We explained (to Habibie) the Bank Bali scandal had been processed and the dossiers had been handed over to the Attorney General's Office," Roesmanhadi said.

Also attending the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision Hartarto and State Minister of National Development Planning Boediono.

Muladi, also a professor of law, said the government had achieved impressive progress in the investigation of Soeharto and his children, including the revocation of several presidential decrees which had benefited the former first family.

"The final step will depend in large part on the Criminal Code," he said without elaboration. (prb)